PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

INTRODUCTION

IX

I

SCCORDING to Hawaiian myth, Pele, the volcanic

A fire-queen and the chief architect of the Hawaiiangroup, was a foreigner, born in the mystical land ofKuai-he-Iani, a land not rooted and anchored to one

spot, but that floated free like the Fata Morgana, and that showeditself at times to the eyes of mystics, poets and seers, a gardenland, clad with the living glory of trees and habitations-a visionto warm the imagination. The region was known as Kahiki(Kukulu 0 Kahiki), a name that connotes Java and that is asso­ciated with the Asiatic cradle of the Polynesian race.

Pele's mother was Haumea, a name that crops up as an ances­tor in the hoary antiquity of the Hawaiian people, and she wasreputed to be the daughter of Kane-hoa-Iani.

Pele was ambitious from childhood and from the earliest agemade it her practice to stick close to her mother's fireplace incompany with the fire-keeper Lono-makua, ever watchful ofhis actions, studious of his methods-an apprenticeship well fit­ted to serve her in good stead such time as she was to becomeHawaii's volcanic fire-queen. This conduct drew upon Pele thesuspicion and illwill of her elder sister N a-maka-o-ka-ha'i, a sea­goddess, who, fathoming the latent ambition of Pele, could notfail to perceive that its attainment would result in great commo­tion and disturbance in their home-land.

Her fears and prognostications proved true. Namaka, return­ing from one of her expeditions across the sea, found that Pe1e,taking advantage of her absence, had erupted a fiery deluge andsmothered a portion of the home-land with aa.

It would have gone hard with Pele; but mother Haumea badeher take refuge in the fold (pola) of Ka-moho-alii's malo. Nowthis elder brother of Pele was a deity of great power and author­ity, a terrible character, hedged about with tabus that restrictedand made difficult the approach of his enemies. Such a refugecould only be temporary, and safety was to be assured only byPele's removal from her home in the South land, and that meantflight. It was accomplished in the famed mythical canoe Honua­i-a-kea.

The company was a distinguished one, including such godlikebeings as Ka-moho-alii, Kane-apua, Kane-milo-hai and many

x PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

other relations of Pele, the youngest, but not the least important,of whom was the girl Hiiaka, destined to be the heroine of thestory here unfolded and of whom it was said that s~e was borninto the world as a clot of blood out of the posterior fontanelle(nunoi) of her mother Haumea, the other sisters having beendelivered through the natural passage.

The sailing course taken by Pele's company brought them tosome point northwest of Hawaii, along that line of islets, reefs,and shoals which tail off from Hawaii as does the train of acomet from its nucleus. At Moku-papapa Pele located her bro­ther Kane-milo-hai, as if to hold the place for her or to buildit up into fitness for human residence, for it was little more thana reef. Her next stop was at the little rock of Nihoa that liftsits head some eight hundred feet above the ocean. Here shemade trial with the divining rod Paoa, but the result being un­favorable, she passed on to the insignificant islet of Lehua whichclings like a limpet to the flank of Niihau. In spite of its small­ness and unfitness for residence, Pele was moved to crown therock with a wreath of kau-no'a, while Hiiaka contributed a chap­let of lehua which she took from her own neck, thus christeningit for all time. The poet details the itinerary of the voyage inthe following graphic lines:

KE KAAO A PELE I HAAWI IA KA-MOHO-ALII I KA

HAALELE ANA IA KAHIKI

Ku makou e hele me ku'u mau poki~i aloha,Ka aina a makou i ike ole ai malalo aku nei,A'e makou me ku'u poki'i, kau i ka wa'a;N o'iau ka hoe a Ka-moho-alii;A'ea'e, kau i ka nalu-He nalu haki kakala,He nalu e imi ana i ka aina e hiki aku ai.a N ihoa ka aina a makou i pae mua aku ai:Lele a'e nei makou, kau i uka 0 Nihoa.a ka hana no a ko'u poki'i, a Kane-apua,a ka hooili i ka ihu 0 ka wa'a a nou i ke kai :Waiho anei 0 Ka-moho-alii ia Kane-apua i uka 0 Nihoa.No'iau ka hoe a Ka-moho-aliiA pae i ka aina i kapa ia 0 Lehua.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

TRANSLATION

XI

I

PELEJS ACCOUNT TO KAMOHOALII OF THE DEPARTURE

FROM KAHIKI

We stood to sail with my kindred belovedTo an unknown land below the horizon;We boarded - my kinsmen and I - our craft,Our pilot well skilled, Ka-moho-alii.Our craft o'ermounted and mastered the waves;The sea was rough and choppy, but the wavesBore us surely on to our destined shore-The rock Nihoa, the first land we touched;Gladly we landed and climbed up its cliffs.Fault of the youngster, Kane-apua,He loaded the bow till it ducked in the waves;Ka-moho-alii marooned the lad,Left the boy on the islet NihoaAnd, pilot well skilled, he sailed awayTill we found the land we christened Lehua.

When they had crowned the desolate rock with song andwreath, Ka-moho-alii would have steered for Niihau, but Pele,in a spasm of tenderness that smiles like an oasis in her life, ex­claimed, "How I pity our little brother who journeyed with ustill now!" At this Ka-moho-alii turned the prow of the canoe inthe direction of Nihoa and they rescued Kane-apua from hisseagirt prison. Let 'the poet tell the story:

Hui (a) iho nei ka wa'a a Ka-moho-aliiE kii ana i ko lakou pokii, ia Kane-apua, i Nihoa.Pili aku nei ka wa'a 0 Ka-moho-alii i uka nei 0 Nihoa,Kahea aku nei i ko lakou pokii, ia Kane-apua,E kau aku rna ka pola 0 ka wa'a.Hui iho nei ka ihu 0 ka wa'a 0 Ka-moho-alii­He wa'a e holo ana i Niihau,Kau aku nei 0 Ka-moho-alii i ka laau, he paoa, (b)

(a) Hui, an elided form of huH, the l being dropped.(b) Paoa. One Hawaiian says this should be pahoa. (Paulo Hokii.)The Paoa mentioned in verse eight was a divining rod used to determine

the suitability of any spot for Pele's excavations. The land must be proofagainst the entrance of sea water. It also served as a spade in excavatingfor a volcanic crater.

When a suitable place was finally discovered on Hawaii, the Paoa statrwas planted in Panaewa and became a living tree, multiplying itself untilit was a forest. The writer's informant says that it is a tree known tothe present generation of men. "I have seen sticks cut from it," said he,"but not the living tree itself."

XII PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

E imi ana i ko lakou aina e noho ai, 0 Kauai:Aole na'e i loa'a.Kau mai la 0 Ka-moho-alii i ka laau, he paoa;OAhu (c) ka aina.Ia ka ana iho nei 0 lakou i Alia-pa'akai,Aole na'e he aina.

TRANSLATION

Ka-moho-alii turned his canoeTo rescue lad Kane from N ihoa.Anon the craft lies off Nihoa's coast;They shout to the lad, to Kane-apua,Come aboard, rest with us on the pola. (.d)Ka-moho-alii turns now his prow,He will steer for the fertile Niihau.He sets out the wizard staff Paoa,To test if Kauai's to be their home;But they found it not there.Once more the captain sails on with the rod,To try if Oahu's the wished for land:They thrust in the staff at Salt Lake Crater,"But that proved not the land of their promise.

Arrived at Oahu, Ka-moho-alii, who still had Pele in hiskeeping, left the canoe in charge of Holoholo-kai and, with therest of the party, continued the journey by land. The witchery ofthe Paoa was appealed to from time to time, as at Alia-pa'akai,Puowaena (Punchbowl Hill), Leahi (Diamond Head), and lastlyat Makapu'u Point, but nowhere with a satisfactory response.(The words of Pele in the second verse of the kaao next to begiven lead one to infer that she must for a time have entertainedthe thought that they had found the desired haven at Pele-ula­a small land-division within the limits of the present city ofHonolulu.) Let the poet tell the story:

Ke ku nei makou e imi kahi e noho alA loa'a rna Pele-ula:o Kapo-ula-kina'u ka wahine;

(c) 0 Ahu. The particle 0 is not yet joined to its substantive, as inOahu. the form we now have.

(d) Pola, the raised platform in the waist of the canoe, a place of honor.

t-

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

A loa'a i ka lae kapu 0 Maka-pu'u.Ilaila pau ke kuleana;Imi ia Kane-hoa-Iani,A loa'a i ka lae 0 Maka-hana-Ioa.­He loa ka uka, 0 Puna:Elua kaua i ke kapa hookahi.Akahi au a ike-haupu mau, walohia wale:E Kane-hoa-Iani, e-e!E Kane-hoa-Iani, e-e!Aloha kaua!Kau ka hoku hookahi, heIe i ke ala loa!Aloha kama kuku kapa a ka wahine!He wahine lohiau, nana i ka makani;He makani lohiau, haupu mai oloko!

TRANSLATION

We went to seek for a biding place,And found it, we thought, in Pele-ula­Dame Kapo-she of the red-pied robe­Found it in the sacred cape, Maka-pu'u;The limit that of our journey by land.We looked then for Kane-hoa-IaniAnd found hiin at Maka-hana-Ioa.Far away are the uplands of Puna;One girdle still serves for you and for me.N ever till now such yearning, such sadness!Where art thou, Kane-hoa-Iani?o Father Kane, where art thou?Hail to thee, 0 Father, and hail to me!When rose the pilot-star we sailed away.Hail, girl who beats out tapa for women­The home-coming wife who watches the wind,The haunting wind that searches the house!

XIII

The survey of Oahu completed, and Kamoho-alii having re­sumed command of the canoe, Pele uttered her farewell and theyvoyaged on to the cluster of islands of which Maui is the center:

Aloha, Oahu, e-e!E huH ana makou i ka aina mamua aku,Kahi a makou e noho ai.

XIV PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

TRANSLATION

Farewell to thee, Oahu!We press on to lands beyond,In search of a homing place.

Repeated trial with the divining rod, Paoa, made on the west­ern part of Maui as well as on the adjoining islands of Molokaiand Lanai proving unsatisfactory, Pele moved on to the explora­tion of the noble form of Hale-a-ka-la that domes East Maui, withfine hope and promise of success. But here again she was dis­satisfied with the result. She had not yet delivered herselffrom the necessity of protection by her kinsman, Ka-moho-alii:"One girdle yet serves for you and for me," was the note thatstill rang out as a confession of dependence, in her song.

While Pele was engaged in her operations in the crater ofHale-a-ka-Ia, her inveterate enemy Na-maka-o-ka-ha'i, who hadtrailed her all the way from Kahiki with the persistency of asea-wolf, appeared in the offing, accompan.ied by a sea-dragonnamed Ha-ui.

The story relates that, as Na-maka-o-ka-ha'i passed the sand­spit of Moku-papapa, Kane-milo-hai, who, it will be remembered,had been left there in charge as the agent of Pele, hailed her withthe question: "Where are you going so fast?"

"To destroy my enemy, to destroy Pele," was her answer."Return to Kahiki, lest you yourself be destroyed," was the

advice of Kane-milo-haLPele, accepting the gage thrown down by N a-maka-o-kaha'i,

with the reluctant consent of her guardian Ka-moho-alii, wentinto battle single-handed. The contest was terrific. The sea­monster, aided by her dragon consort, was seemingly victorious.Dismembered parts of Pele's body were cast up at Kahiki-nui,where they are still pointed out as the bones of Pele (na iwi 0

Pele.) (She was only bruised). Ka-moho-alii was dismayedthinking Pele to have been destroyed ;-but, looking across theAle-nui-haha channel, he saw the spirit-form of Pele flaming inthe heavens ,above the summits of Mauna-loa and Mauna-kea.As for Na-maka-o-ka-ha'i, she retired from the battle exultant,thinking that her enemy Pele was done for: but when she re­ported her victory to Kane-milo-hai, that friend of Pele pointedto the spirit body of Pele glowing in the heavens as proof thatshe was mistaken. N amaka was enraged at the sight and would

PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH xv

have turned back to renew the conflict, but Kane-milo-hai dis­suaded her from this foolhardy undertaking, saying, "She isinvincible; she has become a spirit."

The search for a home-site still went on. Even Hale-a-ka-Iawas not found to be acceptable to Pele's fastidious taste. Ac­cording to one account it proved to be so large that Pele foundherself unable to keep it warm. Pele, a goddess now, accordinglybade adieu to Maui and its clustering isles and moved on toHawaii.

HE KAAO NA PELEJ I HAALELE AI IA MAUl

Aloha 0 Maui, aloha, e!Aloha 0 Moloka'i, aloha, e!Aloha 0 Lana'i, aloha, e!Aloha 0 Kaho'olawe, aloha, e!Ku makou e hele, e!o Hawaii ka ka ainaA makou e noho ai a mau loa aku;Ke ala ho'i a makou i hiki mai ai,He ala paoa ole kQ Ka-moho-alii,Ko Pele, ko Kane-milo-hai, ko Kane-apua,Ko Hiiaka-ka no'iau-i ka poli 0 Pele,I hiki mai ai.

TRANSLATION

PELE'S FAREWELL TO MAUl

Farewell to thee, Maui, farewell!Farewell to thee, Moloka'i, farewell!Farewell to thee, Lana'i, farewell!Farewell to thee, Kaho'olawe, farewell!We stand all girded for travel:Hawaii, it seems, is the landOn which we shall dwell evermore.The route by which we came hitherTouched lands not the choice of Paoa;­'Twas the route of Ka-moho-alii,Of Pele and Kane-milo-hai,Route traveled by Kane-apua, and byHiiaka, the wise, the darling of Pele.

Pele and her company landed on Hawaii at Pua-ka, a desolate

XVI PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

spot between Kawaihae and Kailua. Thence they journeyedinland until they came to a place which they named Moku-aweo­we()-,-not the site of the present crater of that name, but-situ­ated where yawns the vast caldera of Kilauea. It was at thesuggestion of Ku-moku-halii and Keawe-nui-kau of Hilo thatthe name was conferred. They also gave the name Mauna-loato the mountain mass that faced them on the west, "because,"said they, "our journey was long."

Night fell and they slept. In the morning, when the elepaiouttered its note, they rose and used the Paoa staff. The omenswere favorable, and Pele decided that this was the place for herto establish a permanent home.

The people immediately began to set out many plants valuablefor food; among them a variety of kalo called aweii, well suitedfor upland growth; the ulu (bread-fruit); the maia (banana);the pala-a (an edible fern) ; the awa (Piper methysticum) andother useful plants.

The land on the Hilo side of Kilauea, being in the rain belt,is fertile and well fitted for tillage. The statement, however,that Kilauea, or its vicinity, became the place of settlement forany considerable number of people cannot be taken literally.The climatic conditions about Kilauea are too harsh and untropi­cal to allow either the people or the food plants of Polynesia tofeel at home in it. The probability is that instead of being gath­ered about Kilauea, they made their homes in the fat lands oflower Puna or Hilo.

Pele, on her human side at least, was dependent for supportand physical comfort upon the fruits of the earth and the climaticconditions that made up her environment. Yet with all this, inthe narrative that follows her relations to humanity are of thatexceptional character that straddle, as it were, that border linewhich separates the human from the superhuman, but for themost part occupy the region to the other side of that line, theregion into which if men and women of this work-a-day worldpass they find themselves uncertain whether the beings withwhom they converse are bodied like themselves or made up ofsome insubstantial essence and liable to dissolve and vanish atthe touch.

162 PELE AND HIIAKA-A 1\1YTH

Then comes my herald of peace, withIts ear-tingling( b) message of love,Offering bounty and pardon as freeAs the wind that shakes the hala tree.Drawn is the bolt and open the doorOf the secret chamber under the sea,Revealing the tricks of the merfolk twain,Their bodies dead as the corpse of King Log,And with them that of the Mermaid Queen;For a ray has pierced to their resting place,As a lightning flash illumines the deep.You're caught, my fellows, you're caught!

Neither Kua nor Kahole-a-Kane were relieved of their guiltyfears by Hiiaka's soft words. They continued their flight alongthe same path which was soon afterwards followed by Hiiaka inher climb to Poha-kea. The only penalty inflicted by Hiiaka,when at last she came up with them and found them penitent,cowering in the brush, was their retirement from the ocean: nota light stroke, however, being almost the equivalent of takingaway a mariner's commission, thus separating him from hischosen element, his native air.

CHAPTER XXX

WHAT HIIAKA SAW FROM THE HEIGHT OFPOHAKEA

To return now to Hiiaka, who, after a hot climb, is standingon the summit of Pohakea; she is gazing with rapt and clearvision far away in the direction of her own home-land, her mokulehua, in Puna. Her eyes, under the inspiration of the moment,disregard the ocean foreground, on whose gently heaving bosommight be seen the canoe that holds Lohiau and Wahine-oma'osnailing along to its appointed rendezvous. Her mind is busyinterpreting the unusual signs written in the heavens: a swellingmountainous mass of flame-shot clouds, boiling up from somehidden source. It spells ruin and desolation - her own forest­parks blasted and fire-smitten; but, saddest and most heart­rending of all is the thought that her own Hopae, the beautiful,the accomplished, the generous, the darling of her heart - Hopoe

PELE AND HUAKA-A l\1YTH 163

has been swallowed up in the rack. Hopoe, whose accepted em­blem and favorite poetical metamorphosis was a tall lehua treein full blossom, is now a scarred rock teetotumed back and forthby the tides and waves of the ocean. This thought, howevermuch she would put it aside, remained to fester in her heart.

( We omit at this point a considerable number of mele whichare ascribed to Hiiaka and declared to have been sung by herwhile occupying this mountain perch at Poha-kea. Applicationto them of the rule that requires conformity to a reasonablestandard of relevancy to the main purpose of the narrative re­sults in their exclusion.)

The song next given - by some dubbed a pule, because of itsserious purpose, no doubt - seems to be entitled to admission tothe narrative:

Aluna au a Poha-kea,Ku au, nana ia Puna:Po Puna i ka ua awaawa;Pohina Puna i ka ua noenoe;Hele ke a i kai 0 ka La-hiku 0 a'u lehua,o a'u lehua i aina(a) ka manu;I lahui ( b) ai a kapu.Aia la, ke huki'a(c)la i kai 0 Nana-huki­Hula le'a wale i kai 0 Nana-huki, e !

TRANSLATION

On the heights of Poha-keaI stand and look forth on Puna­Puna, pelted with bitter rain,Veiled with a downpour black as night !Gone, gone are my forests, lehuasWhose bloom once gave the birds nectar !Yet they were insured with a promise!Look. how the fire-fiends flit to and fro !A merry dance for them to the sea,Down to the sea at N ana-huki !

Hiiaka now pays attention to the doings of the people on thecanoe in the offing. It is necessary to explain that, on landing

(a) Aina, to furnish food.(b) Lahui, wholly, entirely.(c) Huki, to fetch a wide course; to deviate from a direct course.

164 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

/

at Mokuleia, she had ordered her two companions to continuetheir voyage and meet her on the other side of Cape Kaenawhose pointed beak lay close at hand. Lohiau, nothing loath­a pretty woman was company enough for him - turned theprow of the canoe seaward and resumed his paddle. Afterpassing the cape, the ocean calmed, making the work of steeringmuch less arduous. Now it was that Lohiau, feeling the warmblood of young manhood swell the cockles of his heart andfinding opportunity at hand, made ardent love to his attractivevoyage-companion. He pressed nose and lip against her's andused every argument to bring her to accept his point of view.

\;Vahine-oma'o had a mind of her own and thought not atall averse to love and its doings and though very much drawnto this lover in particular, she decidedly objected to compromis­ing her relations with Hiiaka, but above all, with the dreadmistress of the Volcano, with whom she must ere long makereckoning. Like Pele, Wahine-oma'o permitted the kisses ofLohiau for a time. but, knowing that passion grows by what itfeeds on, she presently cut short his rations and told him to be­have himself, enforcing her denial with the unanswerable argu­ment that she was well persuaded that they would be seen byHiiaka. It was even so. It was worse. Hiiaka did not con­tent herself with throwing temptation before Lohiau, as onemight place raw meat before a hungry dog; by some witcheryof psychologic power she stirred him up to do and dare, yet atthe same time she impelled Wahine-oma'o to accept, but only acertain degree, for she carefully set bounds to their conduct.And this, be it understood, is but the opening act of a campaignin which Hiiaka resolves to avenge herself on Pele.

When at length Hiiaka centered her attention on the actionsof the people in the canoe, it needed but a glance to tell herthat the contagium planted in the soil of Lohiau's mind hadworked to a charm. Her own description - though in figuresthat seem high-wrought and foreign to our imaginations - hadbetter tell the tale:

Aluna au 0 Poha-kea,Wehe ka ilio ( a) i kona kapa;

(a) Ilia, dog. It is explained that the meaning covered by this figureis a storm-cloud and that the stripping off of its garment. wehe .... i kanakapa, meant its break up into the fleecy white clouds of fair weather. Itseems that if the head of this cloud-dog pointed to the west it meant rain,if to the east, fair weather.

PELE AKD HIL\h.\.-A l\IYTI~ 165

Hanai alualu (b) i ke kula Q l\1iki-kala, (c)I ke kula 0 Puha-malo ( d)Hakaka, kipikipi 0 Kai-a-ulu (e) me ke kanaka;Ua ku'i-ku'i wale a ha'ina(f) na ihu;Ua ka i ka u me ka waimaka,1 ke kula 0 Lualua-Iei,(g) e !KU\1 lei aloha no olua no, e !

TRANSLATION

1 stand ahigh on Poha-kea;The dog of storm strips off his robe;A zephyr fans yon heated plain ofMiki-kala and Puha-maI6:-\;\Tild strife 'tween the man and the Sea breeze:I see noses flattened, broken,Fountains become of water and tears!This my garland of love to you two !

Hiiaka's voice had the precious quality of carrying her wordsand making them audible to a great distance, when she so willed.Her song, therefore, did not, on this occasion, waste itself in thewilderness of space. The caution it imposed had its effect.Lohiau and \;\Tahine-oma'o calmed their passionate contentionsand proceeded discreetly on their way I-laving passed Kalae­loa, ( h) their canoe swung into that inverted arc of Oahu's coast­line, in the middle of which glisten, like two parted rows of whiteteeth, the coral bluffs that were the only guard at the mouth ofPearl Lochs.

Before descending from her vantage ground on Pohakea,Hiiaka indulged her fancy in a song that was of a different~train. Looking towards Hilo, she describes the rivers, swollenby heavy rains, rushing impetuously along in bounding torrents,

(b) H((ned allwln. to fan with a gentle breeze. Alu-alu is another formfor oluolu.

(c, Ii) J1r'iki-/':ala and Puha-malo, names of places along the coast ofOahu in tJw region under observation.

(e) Kai-a-?tln, a wind felt on the leeward side of Oahu.

(f) Ha'ina 1/(/' ihn. H(/.·i. to break or be brokpn. The Hawaiian kiss wasa flattening of nose against nose. The breaking of noses, as here, therefore,means excessive kissing.

(g) I,?/a/lla-lci, til(' name of a plain in this region.

(h) Barber's Point.

166 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

/

while men and women leap into the wild current and are liftedon its billows as by the ocean waves:

A makani Kua-mu (a) lehua ko uka;Ke ho'o-wa'a-wa'a a'e laE ua i Hana-kahi, (b) e-e:Ke ua la, ua mai la HiloA moku kahawai, piha aku laN a hale Lehua (c) a ke kai, e-e!

TRANSLATION

Kua-mu pays toll to the forests­Cloud-columns that veer and sway,Freighted with rain for Hila,The Hilo of Hana-kahi.The channels are full to the brim­A tide that will flood ocean's caverns,The home of the mermaid Lehua.

After a moment's pause she resumed, though In quite a dif­ferent strain:

Aia no ke 'kua la i uka;Ke hoa la i ka papa a enaena,A pulelo( d) mai ka ohi'a 0 ka lua;Maewa (e) ke po'0, pu'u, newa i ka makani,I ka hoonaue ia e ka awaawa, e-e!

TRANSLATION

The god is at work in the hills;She has fired the plain oven-hot;

(a) Kua-mu, said to be the name of a wind, the blowing of which causedheavy rain in the woods back of Hilo.

(b) Hana-kahi, an ancient king of Hilo, frequently mentioned in poetry.whose name is used to designate the district.

(c) Hale Lehua, an evident allusion to the goddess, or mermaid, Moana­nui-ka-Lehua. She was a relative of Pele and had her habitation in theocean caverns of Ie-ie-waena, the channel between Oahu and Kaua1. Herstory belongs to the time when the sun-hero Mawi was performing his won­derful exploits. (See account given on p.

(d) Pulelo, a word descriptive of the tremor of the flames that wrappedthe trees.

(e) Maewa, to fork, or branch, said of the flames.

PELE AND HIlAK\-A 1\1YTH

The forest-fringe of the pit is aflame; ­Fire-tongues, fire-globes, that sway in the wind­The fierce bitter breath of the Goddess!

167

As the canoe drew near to the appointed rendezvous at Pu'u­loa, Hiiaka lifted her voice in a chanting song addressed toLohiau and Wahine-oma'o:

Ku'tl aikane i ke awa lau(e) 0 Pu'uloa,Mai ke kula 0 Pe'e-kaua, (d) ke noho oe,E noho kaua e kui, e lei i ka pua 0 ke kauno'a,( e)I ka pua 0 ke akuli-kuli, (f) 0 ka wili-wili ;(g)o ka iho'na 0 Kau-pe'e i Kane-hili,( h)Ua hili( £) au; akahi no ka hili 0 ka la pomaika'i;Aohe mo-ewa'a(j) 0 ka po, e moe la nei.E Lohiau ipo, e Wahine-oma'o,Hoe 'a mai ka wa'a i a'e aku au.

TRANSLATION

We meet at Ewa's leaf-shaped lagoon, friends;Let us sit, if you will, on this leaAnd bedeck us with wreaths of Kauno'a,Of akuli-kuli and wili-wili.My soul went astray in this solitude;I t lost the track for once, in spite of luck,

(c) Awa lan, lpaf-shaped lagoon; a highly appropriate epithet, when ap­plied to that system of lochs, channels and estuaries that form the famous"Pearl Lochs," as anyone acquainted with the place will admit.

(d) Pe'e-ka1lC1, the name applied to a portion of the plain west of Pu'u-loa.

(c) Ka71-no'a, a parasitic plant (Cassytha filiformis) consisting of wirystpms that cling to othpr plants by mpans of small protuberances orsuckprs.

(f) A k71li-k1l1i. n low, yinp-likp plant. said to have fleshy leaves andminute flowers.

(g) lFili-wili (Erythrinn monosperma), a tree having light, corky wood,much used in making- tl10 outrig-ger floats for canoes. Its flowers, of aruddy fln me-color. ma kp a splpndid decoration.

(h) Kane-hili. a name npplied to a part of the plain west of Pu'u-Ioa.Notice the rppetition of the word hili in the next verse. Hili means astray,or distresspd.

(i) Hili. to go astray. to lose one's way. Assonance by word-repetitionwas a favorite device of Hawaiian poetry. The Hawaiian poet did not userhyme.

(.i) lIfoe-wa·a. lit0rally a canoe-dream. To dream of a canoe was anomen of ill luck. It wns nlso unlucky to dream of having gained somevalued possession and then wake to the disappointing reality.

168 PELE AND HIIAKA-A 1\1YTH

As I came down the road to Kau-pe'a.No nightmare dream was t!lat which tricked my soul.This way, dear friends; turn the canoe this way;Paddle hither and let me embark.

/

Hiiaka again in command, the tiger in Lohiau's nature slunkaway into its kennel, allowing his energies to spend themselves inuseful work. Under his vigorous paddle the little craft oncemore moved like a thing of life and long before night founditself off the harbor of Kou, the name then applied to what wenow call Honolulu.

CHAPTER XXXI

HIIAKA VISITS PELE-ULA AT KOU-THEHULA KILU

At the entrance to this land-locked harbor of Kou a prettysight met their eyes: a moving picture of men and women in thevarious attitudes of lying, kneeling or standing on boards, ridingthe waves that chased each other toward the sandy beach. Thescene made such an aPReal to Hiiaka's imagination that sheopened her heart in song:

Ke iho la ka makaniHalihali pua 0 N u'uanu, e-e;Aia i kai na lel1l1a,Ke nana la 0 Hilo:Ke ka ia ho'i ka aukai, e-e;Na lehua i ka wai 0 Hilo.o Hilo ho'i. e-e!

TR.\ NSL\TION

Down rushes the wind and sweeps alongThe blossoms of N u'uanu :Afloat in the sea are the flowers­A scene that takes one to Hilo.\i\Those tide lines them up as a lei:For bloom of lelma to oriftFar at sea is a Hilo mark.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Ku'u kane i ka makani hau aliao Maka-huna i Hua-wi, e:Wa iho la; ke wa wale mai la noKaua hilahila moe awa-keaIluna 0 ka laau.Ho'olaau mai ana ke ki'i,Kaunu mai ana ia'u ka moe ­E moe ho'i, e!

TRANSLATION

Hot breath from the sea-sand waste-Love hid from day in a thicket of hau ­For shame, my man, such clamor and haste!The eye of day is open just now.:i\1ake love, aperch, a bird in a tree!You clamor for bed in the open:To bed with yourself! - to bed!

CHAPTER XXXII

185

HIIAKA EXTRICATES HER CHARGE FROM THEDANGEROUS FASCINATIONS OF THE KILU

Hiiaka, having - by her marvellous skill- extricated hercharge from the toils of the enchantress, turned a deaf ear toPele-ula's urgent persuasions to abide yet longer and taste moredeeply the sweets of her hospitaliay. Her determination arrivedat, she wasted no time in leave-taking but made all haste to puta safe distance between the poor moth and the flame that wasthe focus of his enchantment. Their route lay eastward across

According to one version of this story, Hiiaka made free use of her powersof enchantment in withdrawing from the presence of Pele-ula. At theproper psychological moment, with the wreath of victory crowning herbrow, while Pele-ula was vainly intent on an effort to turn the tide of herown defeat and gain the shadow of a recognition as mistress of the gameof Kilu, Hiiaka, with a significant gesture to her companions, spat upon theground and, her example having been imitated by Wahine-oma'o and Lohiau,thpir physical bodies were at once transported to a distance while theirplaces continued to be occupied by unsubstantial forms that had all thesC'mblance of reality.

186 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

the dusty, wind-swept, plain of Kula-o-kahu'a - destined in thecoming years to be the field of many a daring feat of arms;­then through the wild region of Ka-imu-ki, thickset withbowlders - a region at one time chosen by the dwarf Menehuneas a sort of stronghold where they could safely plant theirfamous ti ovens and be unmolested by the nocturnal depreda­tions of the swinish Kama-pua'a. Hiiaka saw nothing or tookno notice of these little rock-dwellers. Her gaze was fixed uponthe ocean beyond, whose waves and tides they must stem beforethey reached and passed Moloka'i and Maui, shadowy formsthat loomed in the horizon between her and her goal.

Hiiaka, standing on the flank of Leahi and exercising a pow,erof vision more wonderful than that granted by the telescope,had sight of a wild commotion on her beloved Hawaii. In thecloud-films that embroidered the horizon she saw fresh proofof her sister's unmindfulness of the most solemn pledges. Itwas not her fashion to smother her emotions with silence:

Ke ahi maka-pa (a) i ka la, e;O-wela kai ho'i 0 Puna;Malamalama kai 0 Kuki'i la.Ku ki'i a ka po i Ha'eha'e,Ka ulu ohi'a i Nana-wale.A nana aku nei, he mea aha ia?A nana aku nei, he mea lilo ia.

TRANSLATION

The fire-split rocks bombard the sun;The fires roll on to the Puna sea;There's brightness like day at Kuki'i;Ghosts of night at the eastern gate,And gaunt the forms that jag the sky­The skeleton woods that 100m on high.The meaning of this wild vision?The meaning is desolation.

At Kuliouou, which they re ched after passing through Wai-alae, Wai-Iupe and Niu, y came upon some women who were

(a) Maka-pa,the fire.

expression used of stones that burst when placed in

PELE /~ND HIIAKA-A MYTH 187

catching small fish and crabs in the pools and shallow water alongthe shore and, to satisfy their hunger or, perhaps, to test theirdisposition, Hiiaka begged the women to grant her a portion oftheir catch to satisfy their need. The answer was a surly re­fusal, coupled with the remark that Hiiaka would better do herown fishing. As the sister and representative of the proud godPele, Hiiaka could not permit the insult to go unpunished. Herreply was the utterance of this fateful incantation:

He makani holo uha (a)Ko Ka-ele-kei a Pau-kua.(b)Pau wale ke aho i ka noi ana,o ka loa ho'i, e!

TRANSLATION

Here's a blast shall posset the blood,As the chant of kahuna the back.Our patience exhausts with delay;Vve're famished from the length of the way.

The magic words operated quickly. As Hiiaka turned to de­part, the unfortunate fishing women fainted and died.

After this outburst of retribution. Hiiaka turned aside to ad­dress in words of consolation and compliment two forlornmythical creatures wh0111 she recognized as kindred. They werecreations of Pele, Ihihi-Iau-akea. manifest to us to-day as ali feless cinder-cone. and N ono-ula. as a clear spring of waterwelling out of the mountain. It was a nice point in Hiiaka'scharacter that she was always ready. with punctilious etiquette,to show courtesy to whom courtesy was due.

Fortunately for Hiiaka. her lofty perch afforded a wide-em­bracing viev.' that included the shadowy forms of Maui and thelesser islands that nested with it. Not the smallest pirogue couldsteal away from the strip of rocky beach at her feet withouther observation. At this moment she caught sight of two sailor­men in the act of launching a trilll canoe into the troubled waters

(a) lIfakani holo-nha. The allusion is to a cold wind that chills thenaked legs of the fisher-folk.

(b) Pau-kua, a place-name, meaning consumed in the back-a clearreference to the fact that the kahuna's black art very frequently made itsfatal ravages by attacking first tl1e back.

188 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

of the Hanauma cove, and she made haste, accordingly, to cometo them, on the chance of securing a passage, if so be that theywere voyaging in the desired direction. Their destination prov­ing to be Moloka'i, Hiiaka begged the men to receive herselfand party as passengers. Nothing loath, they gave their consent.

"But," said one of them, "your party by itself is quite largeenough to fill the canoe."

His companion, with better show of cheer in his speech, spokeup and said, "It's but common luck to be swamped in this roughchannel. To avoid it needs only skill. Even if the craft swamps,these people need not drown; we can swim for it, and we shallall fare alike. We'll take you with us. Come aboard." Aboardthey went.

The voyage to Moloka'i proved uneventful. They landed atIloli, a barren place that offered no provision to stay their hun­ger. When Hiiaka, therefore, learned that these same canoe­men were bound for the neighboring island of Maui, she wiselyconcluded to continue the voyage with them. -

On landing in Kohala, Hiiaka took the road that led up throughthe thickly wooded wilderness of Mahiki, the region that had beenthe scene, now some months gone, of the most strenuous chapterin her warfare to rid Hawaii of the mo'o - that pestilent brood ofwinged and crawling monsters great and small that once infestedher wilds and that have continued almost to the present day toinfest the imagination of the Hawaiian people. On coming to theeminence called Pu'u O'ioina,- a name signifying a resting place- being now in the heart of the damp forest of l\10e-awa. theyfound the trail so deep with mire that the two women drew uptheir paii and tucked them about their waists. At sight of thisaction, Lohiau indulged himself in some frivolous jesting remarkswhich called out a sharp rebuke from Hiiaka.

As they cleared the deep woods, there burst upon them aview of the Hamakua coast-wall here and there dotted withclumps of puhala and fern, at intervals hung with the white rib­bons of waterfalls hastening to join the great ocean. As Hiiakagazed upon the scene, she uttered her thoughts in song:

(In literature, as in other matters, the missing- sheep alwaysmakes a strong appeal to the imagination. Urged by this motive.I have searched high d low for this mele. the utterance ofHiiaka under . ue conditions; but all my efforts have beenunavaili

had passed through the lands of Kukia-Iau-ania

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH 189

and Maka-hana-loa and were overlooking the town of Hilo,Hiiaka was better able to judge of the havoc which the fires ofPele had wrought in her Puna domains. The land was deso­lated, but, worst of all, the life of her dearest friend Hopoe hadbeen sacrificed on the altar of jealousy. In her indignation,Hiiaka swore vengeance on her sister Pele. "I have scrupu­lously observed the compact solemnly entered into between us,and this is the way she repays me for all my labor! Ouragreement is off: I am free to treat him - as my lover, if Iso please. But it shall not be here and now. I will wait tillthe right occasion offers, till her own eyes shall witness herdiscomfiture."

After this outburst, her thoughts fashioned themselves in song:

Aia la, lele-iwi(a) 0 Maka-hana-loa!(b)Oni ana ka lae Ohi'a, (c)Ka lae apane,(d) mauka 0 ka lae Manienie,(e)I uka 0 Ke-ahi-a-Laka: (f)Oni ana ka lae, a me he kanaka laKa leo 0 ka pohaku i Kilauea.Ha'i Kilauea, pau kekahi aoao 0 ka mahu nUl,Mahu-nui-akea.E li'u mai ana ke ahi aka pohaku.No Puna au, no k<i hikina a ka la i Ha'eha'e.(g)

(a) Lele-iwi, the name of a cape that marked the coast of Puna. Theword also has a meaning of its own, to express which seems to be the pur­pose of its use here. It connotes a grave-yard, a scafl'old, one, perhaps, onwhich the body (literally the bones) of a human sacrifice are left exposed.

(b) Maka-hana-loa, the name of another cape, also on the Hilo-Punacoast.

(c) Lae Ohi'a, literally, ohi'a cape, meaning a forest growth thatstretched out like a tongue.

(d) Apane, a species of lel1Ua that has red flowers, much fed upon bythe birds. (In the original newspaper-text the word was pane, evidentlya mistake. There are, regretably, many such mistakes in the original text.

(e) Manienie, smooth, meadow-like, a name given in modern times tothe Bermuda grass-"fine grass"-said to have been imported by Vancouver,now extensively seen in Hawaiian lawns.

(f) Ke-ahi-a-Laka, literally, the fire of Laka, the name of a land.

(g) I1 (L'eha'e .. the eastern Sun-gate, applicable to Puna as the eastern­most district of Hawaii and of the whole group. In claiming Puna as hers-­i.e., as her home-Iand-Hiiaka seems to have set up a claim to be theguardian of the Sun's rising, and therefore, by implication of Pele.

190 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

TRANSLATION

See the cape that's a funeral pyre;The tongue of ohi'a's grief-smitten.Beyond, at peace, lies Manie;Above rage the fires of Laka.The cape is passion-moved; how humanThe groan of rocks in the fire-pit!That cauldron of vapor and smoke­One side-wall has broken away-That covers the earth and the sky:Out pours a deluge of rock a-flame.My home-land is Puna, sworn guardAt the eastern gate of the Sun.

Hiiaka now entered the woodlands of Pana-ewa, a regiongreatly celebrated in song, which mus.t,have brought home to hermind vivid memories of that first sharp encounter with her dragonfoe. From there on the way led through Ola'a; and when theyreached Ka-ho'o-ku Hiiaka bade the women, Wahine-oma'o andPaii-o-pala'e, go on ahead.

(A mystery hangs about this woman Paii-o-pala'e which I havenot been able to clear up. She withdrew from the expedition,for reasons of her own, before Hiiaka took canoe for Maui; yethere we find her, without explanation, resuming her old place asattendant on the young woman who had been committed to hercharge. The effort, which has been made, to associate her insome mystical fashion with the paii, short skirt, worn by Hiiaka,only deepens the mystery, so far as my understanding of the affairis concerned.)

Obedient to the instructions of their mistress, the faithfulwomen, Wahine-oma'o and Pau-o-pala'e, presented themselvesbefore Pele at the crater of Kilauea. "Where is my sister? whereis Hiiaka?" demanded the jealous goddess. No explanation wouldsuffice. Pele persisted in regarding them as deserters and, at hercommand, they were put to death.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

CHAPTER XXXIII

HIIAKA ALONE WITH LOHIAU

191

It has come at last, the situation to which the logic of eventshas for many days pointed the finger of a relentless fate. For thefirst time Hiiaka finds herself alone with Lohiau. The history ofher life during the past two months seems but a prologue to thedrama, the opening scene of which is about to be enacted in thedressing room, as we must call it. For Hiiaka, having gathered alapful of that passion-bloom, the scarlet lehua, and having plaitedthree wreaths, with a smile on her face, hangs two of the wreathsabout the neck of Lohiau, using the third for her own adornment.

They are sitting on the sacred terrace of Ka-hoa-lii,at the verybrink of the caldera, in full view of the whole court, including thesisters of Hiiaka who gather with Pele in the Pit. "Draw nearer,"she says to Lohiau, "that I may tie the knot and make the filletfast about your neck." And while her fingers work with pliantart, her lips quiver with emotion in song:

o Hiiaka ka wahine,Ke apo la i ka pua;Ke kui la, ke uo la i ka manai.Eha ka lei, ka apana lehua leiA ka wahine la, ku'u wahine,Ku'u wahine 0 ka ehu makani 0 lalo.Lulumi aku la ka i kai 0 Hilo-one:No Hilo ke aloha - aloha wale ka lei, e

TRANSLATION

'Twas maid Hiiaka plucked the bloom;This wreath her very hands did weave;Her needle 'twas that pierced each flower;Her's the fillet that bound them in one.Four strands of lehua make the lei-The wreath bound on by this maid -Maid who once basked in the calm down there:Her heart harks back to Hilo-one;Wreath and heart are for Hila-one.

The wreath is placed, the song is sung, yet Hiiaka's arm stillclasps Lohiau's neck. Her lithesome form inclines to him. With

192 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

a sudden motion, Hiiaka throws her arms about Lohiau and drawshim to herself. Face to face, lip touches lip, nose presses nose.

The women of Pele's court, chokefull of curiosity and spillingover with suspicion, watchful as a cat of every move, on the instantraise their voices in one Mother-Grundy chorus: "Oh, look !Hiiaka kisses Lohiau! She kisses your lover, Lohiau I"

The excitement rises to fever heat. Pe1e is the coolest of the lot.At the first outcry - "they kiss" - Pele remarks with seeming in­difference, "The nose was made for kissing." ( a) (The Hawaiiankiss was a flattening of nose against nose). But when Hiiakaand Lohiau sink to the earth wrapped in each other's arms, and thewomen of Pele's court raise the cry, "For shame! they kiss; theyembrace !" At this announcement, the face of Pele hardens andher voice rings out with the command: "Ply him with fire."

From Pele's viewpoint, the man, her lover, Lohiau was the sin­ner. The role played by the woman, her sister, Hiiaka - the onewho had, in fact, deliberately planned this offensive exhibition ofinsubordination and rebellion - was either not recognized by Peleor passed by as a matter of temporary indifference. Hiiaka'sjustification in motives of revenge found no place in her reasoning.

When the servants of Pele - among them the sisters of Hiiaka- found themselves under the cruel necessity of executing theedict, they put on their robes of fire and went forth, but re­luctantly. In their hearts they rebelled, and, one and all, theyagreed that, if, at close view, they found him to be the supremelyhandsome mortal that fame had reported him to be, they woulduse every effort to spare him. On coming to the place, theiradmiration passed all bounds. They could not believe their eyes.They had never seen a manly form of such beauty and grace.With one voice they exclaimed:

Mahina ke alo,Pali ke kua.Ke ku a ke kanaka maikai,E ku nei i ke ahu' a Ka-hoa-lii.

TRANSLATION

Front, bright as the moon,Back, straight as a mountain wall:So stands the handsome man,This man on thy terrace, Hoa-lii.

(a) "I hana ia ka ihu i mea honi."

PELE AND HIL'\KA-A MYTH 193

Pele's fire-brigade went through the form of obeying theirorders. They dared not do otherwise. Acting, however, on theirpreconcerted plan, they contented themselves with casting a fewcinders on the reclining form of Lohiau and, then, shamefaced,they ran away - an action that had the appearance of reproofrather than of punishment.

The effect on the mind of Hiiaka, whose insight into the charac­ter of Pele was deeper than that of Lohiau, was far differentfrom that of mere admonition or reproof. She recognized in thefalling cinders a threat of the direst import and at once bracedherself to the task of averting the coming storm and of disarmingthe thundercloud that was threatening her lover. "Have you notsome prayer to offer t' she said to Lohiau.

"Yes," he answered, and at her request he uttered the following:

Ua weIa Pu'u-Iena i ke ahi;Ua wela ka mauna ou, e Kahuna.Uwe au, puni 'a i ke awa;Kilohi aku au 0 ka mauna 0 ka Lua,E haoa mai ana ke a;Ka laau e ho'o-laau-Ho'o-laau mai ana ke ki'i,Ke moe, i o'u nei,

Ia loaa ka hala, ka liE, kaua, paio;Paio olua, e.

TRANSLATION

Pu'u-lena breathes a furnace blast;Your mount, Kahuna. is a-blaze;I choke in its sulphurous reek.T see the mountain belching- f1ame­.\ fiery tree to heaven upspringing;Its deadly shade invades my stony couch.

Is there fault. blame, strife, or reproach;Let the strife be between vou two.

To this proposal of her chivalric companion, who would throwupon the woman the whole burden of fault, punishment, and strife,Hiiaka made answer in this address to Pele:

194 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Puka mai ka Wahine mai loko mai 0 ka Lua,Mai loko mai 0 Muliwai 0 ka Lena, (a)Mai ka moku ( b) po'0 a Kane.E noho ana 0 Kane-lau-apua(c) ike one lau a Kane;Ninau mai uka, "Nowai he wa'a?'(d)

(a) Muliwai 0 Lena. There is a stream of this name in Waianae, it issaid. Lena is also said to be the name of a place in Kahikl. The wordlena, yellow, strongly suggests the thought of sulphur.

(b) Moku po'o a Kane, literally, the fissured head of Kane. The firstland formed by Kane.

~C) Kane-lau-apua, the same as Kane-apua. One of the numerousavatars or characters of Kane. He appeared in Kahiki-Kukulu 0 Kahiki­and gained a reputation as a benevolent deity, whose benign function­shared by Kane-milo-hai-was to pluck from the jaws of death those wholay at the last gasp (mauli-awa), or whose vital spark was at the lastfticker (pua-aneane) . He healed the palsied, the helpless and hopeless,those who were beyond the reach of human aid. On one occasion he re­stored himself to perfect health and soundness by the exercise of his ownwill; hence his name, Kane-apua. On another occasion he illustrated hispower by restoring to life some okuhekuhe which the fisherman had alreadyscaled and laid upon the fire. The motive for this act seems to have beenthat this fish was a form in which he sometimes appeared. The story ofhis adventure with Kane-Ielei-aka is worthy of mention. At one time whilestanding on a headland that reached out into the ocean like the prow of aship, his eye caught a gleam from something moving swiftly through thewater. He saw it repeatedly passing and repassing and wondered what itwas. It was the shadowy form of Kane-Ielei-aka, but he knew it not. Hescanned the surrounding mountains and cliffs, if perchance he might getsight of the body, bird, or spirit that produced this reflection. He dis­covered nothing. In pursuit of his quest, he started to go to Kukulu-o­Kahikl. 6n the way he met his relative Kane-milo-hai, out in mid ovean.

"Are you from Kanaloa?" asked Kane-milo-hal. That meant are youfrom Lana'i, Kanaloa being the name formerly given to that little island.

"Aye, I am from Kanaloa and in pursuit of a strange shadowy thing thatflits through the ocean and evades me."

"You don't seem to recognize that it is only a shadow, a reflection. Thereal body is in the heavens. What you are pursuing is but the other in­tangible body, which is represented by the body of Kane-mano. He isspeeding to reach his home in Ohe-ana" (a cave in the deep sea, in the Kai­popolohua-a-Kane) .

"How then shall I overtake him?" asked Kane-pua."You will never succeed this way. You are no better off than a kolea

(plover) that nods, moving its head up and down (kunou). Your only wayis to return with me and start from the bread-fruit tree of Lei-walo (Ka111u 0 Lei-walo). You must make your start with a flying leap from thetopmost branch of that tree. In that way you can come up to him andcatch him."

The rest of the story: how he followed the advice given him by Kane­milo-hai and succeeded is too long for insertion here.

(d) Nowa'i he wa'a? To speak of a lava flow as a wa'a, a canoe, is afamiliar trope in Hawaiian mele. (See U. L. of H., p. 194). The canoein this case is the eruption of fire sent against Lohiau, the hoapaio, againstwhom it is launched, Lohiau and Hiiaka.

PELE AND HIIAK.\-A 1\:1 YTH 195

No ka hoa-paio 0 Ai-moku(e) wahine:N inau a'e i kona mau. kaikaina ;A le1e e na hoali'i -Ka owaka 0 ka lani,Ka uwila nui, maka eha i ka lani.Lele mai a huli, popo'i i ka honua;o ke kai uli, 0 ke kai kea;o ke ala-kai a Pele i hele ai.E hele ana e kini (f) maka 0 ka La 0 Hu'e-ehu'e,E nana ana ia luna 0 Hualalai;Aloha mai ka makani 0 Kau.Heaha la ka pau(g) 0 ka wahine?He palai, he lau-i, ka pall hoohepa 0 ka wahine, e Kini, e.Ha'aha 'a iluna ke kihi (h) 0 ka Mahina;Pau wale ke aho i ke Akua lehe-oi; (i)Maka'u wale au i ke Akua lehe-ama. (j)

Eli-eli kapu, eli-eli noa!U a noa ka aina i ka puke ( k) iki, i ka puke nUl,

(e) A imoku wahine. An aimoku is one who eats up the land, a con­queror, a literal description of Pele.

(f) Kini maka 0 ka lao In the original text from which this is takenthe form is Kini-maka, offering the presumption that it is intended as aproper name. Kini-maka was a malevolent kupua, demigod, against whom,it is charged that she was given to scooping out and eating the eyes ofmen and her fellow gods. Her name was then called Walewale-o-Ku. Kane,it is said, took her in hand and weaned her from her bad practice; afterwhich she was called Kini-maka, Forty-thousand-eyes. The phrase 0 ka laaffixed to her name discountenances the idea that she is the one hereintended. It becomes evident that the whole expression means rather themany eyes of the Sun, i. e., the many rays that dart from the Sun; and thisis the way I construe it.

(g) Pau 0 ka wahine f The question as to the kind of pau, skirt, wornby the women-those of Pehi's fire-brigade, as I have termed them-is perti­nent, from the fact that the answer will throw light on their mood and thecharacter of their errand, whether peaceful, warlike, etc. The answer givenin the text (line 20 of the translation) is Their skirts were fern and leafof the ti. A pau of fern was said ·to be hanohano, dignified. Ua kapa ia kapalai he palai alii; 0 ka la-i, ua kapa ia he mea kala the (pau of fernwas worn by chiefs; the pau of ti leaf was a sign of propitiation.) Awoman wore a ti leaf during her period of monthly infirmity. The wholesubject will bear further investigation.

(h) Kihi 0 ka Mahina, the horn of the Moon. The manner of fasteningthe pau, knotting or tucking it in at each hip, gave it a crescent shape, withan angle at each hip. This seems to have suggested to the poet a com­parison with the horns of the young Moon.

(i) Akua lehe-oi, an undoubted reference to Pele,-the sharp devouringedge, lip, of her lava-flow.

(j) Arena lehe-ama. This also must refer to Pele-her gaping lips.

(k) Puke, th'e archaic form of pu'e, a hill of potatoes, yams and the like.

196 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

I ka hakina ai, i ka hakina i'a1 -

I kou hakina ai ia Kuli-pe'e i ka Lua, laoEli-eli, kau mai!

Ma ka holo uka, rna ka holo kai.Eli-eli kapu, eli-eli noa!

U a noa ka aina a ke Akua!

TRANSLATION

The Woman comes forth from the Pit,Forth from the river with yellow tide,From the fissured head of Kane,Kane-apua, the cheater of death,Presides o'er his much-thronged sandy plain:The mountains re-echo the question,"Gainst whom do they launch the canoe?"Against her foes, the land-grabber's.To her sisters she puts a question,Upspring the high-born, the princes­What splendor flashes in heaven!The fourth eye of heaven, its flaming bolt.With swell of wave and break of surf a-landWas her flight o'er the blue sea, the gray sea­The voyage Pele made from Kahiki.From his western gate fly the Sun-darts,Their points trained up at Hualalai-The wind from Kau breathes a blessing.Pray tell me, what skirts wear the women?Their skirts are fern and leaf of the tiBound bias about the hips, 0 Kini;One horn of the sickle moon hangs low;My patience faints at her knife-like lipsAnd I fear the Goddess's yawning mouth.Deep, deep is the tabu, deep be the peace!The land is fed by each hill, small or big,By each scrap of bread (a) and of meat-Food that is ravaged by Kuli-pe'e.Plant deep the foundations of peace,

(a) The Hawaiians had no such thing as bread. The Hawaiian word ai,in line 2-0 of the original, means vegetable food. The necessities of thecase seem to justify the use of the word bread in the translation. Thereader will pardon the anachronism.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

A peace that runs through upland and lowland.Deep, deep the tabu, deep be the peace!Peace fall on the land of the Goddess!

CHAPTER XXXIV

PELE'S BRIGADE IS SENT TO THE ATTACKOF LOHIAU

197

Pe1e broke forth in great rage when her people slunk back,their errand not half accomplished. "Ingrates, I know you. Outof pity for that handsome fellow, you have just made a pretenseand thrown a few cinders at his feet. Go back and finish yourwork. Go!"

Hiiaka, on witnessing the second charge of the fire-brigade,again broke forth in song:

Hulihia Kilauea, po i ka uahi;Nalowale i ke awa (a) ka uka 0 ka Lua.Moana Hei~ia - la kapu i ke Akua!Haki palala-hiwa ke alo 0 ka pohaku;Ai'na makai a'ahu, koe ka oka-Koe mauka 0 ka Lae Ohi'a.Haki'na ka hala, apana ka pohaku;Kike ka ala; uwe ka mamane­Ka leo 0 ka laau waimaka nui,o ka wai 0 ia kino a pohaku,Kanaka like Kau-huhu ke oko 0 ke ahi;Ho'onu'u Puna(x) i ka mahu 0 ka Wahine.Kaha ka lehua i ka uka 0 Ka-li'u;Makua ke ahi i ka nahelehele-Ke a li'u-Ia 0 Apua.E ha'a mai ana i ku'u makaKa ponaha lehua mauka 0 Ka-ho'i-ku ;Puni'a i ke awa ka uka 0 Nahunahu:Kina Puna, e poa i ke Akua.Ua kaulu-wela ka uka 0 Oluea;

(a) Awa. The full expression would probably be ua awa, bitter rain,i.e., bad weather.

198 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Va haohia e ke ahi, ku ka halelo. (b)Moku kahawai, niho'a ka pali;Va umu pa-enaena ke alo 0 ka pohaku.o Ihi-Iani,(c) o Ihi-awaawa, (d)Hekili ke'eke'e, ka uila pohaku;Puoho, le1e i-luna, ka ala kani oleole,Kani au-moe, kani ku-wa, kani hele1e'i ;Owe, nakeke i ka lani, nehe i ka honua ;Ku'u pali kuhoho holo walawala i-luna, i-Ialo;Ka iho'na 0 ka pali uhi'a e ka noe;Pa'a i ka ohu na kikepa lehua a ka Wahine;Ho'o-maka'u ka uka - he ahi ko ka Lua.Ke ho'o-malana a'e la e ua na opua;Ne'ene'e i kai 0 Papa-Iau-ahi.Lapalapa ka waha 0 ke Akua lapu;Hukihuki(e) ka lae ohi'a 0 Kai-mu,E hahai aku ana i-mua, i-hope.Hopo aku, hopo mai ;Hopo aku au 0 ka ua liilii noe lehua i ka papa.o Pua'a-kanu(f) oheohe, me he kanaka oa(g) la i ka La;Ke'a ka maha lehua i kai 0 Ka-pili nei:

(b) Halelo, rough, jagged like aa. The following quotation is given:

Ku ke a, ka halelo 0 Kaupo,I ho'okipa i ka hale 0 ka lauwili:E-Iau-wili. He lau-wili ka makani, he Kaua-ula.

TRANSLATION

How jagged stand the rocks of Kaupo,That once held the house of the shiftless!

(c) Ihi-lani, literally, the splendor of heaven; said to be a god of light­ning, also the name of a hill.

(d) Ihl-awaawa, said to be the name of a god of lightning, as well asthe name of a hill.

(e) Huki-huki, literally, to pull, to haul with a succession of jerks. Theaction here figured is eminently descriptive of the manner of advance of alava-flow. It is not with the uniform movement of a body of water. Itshoots out a tongue of molten stuff here and there; and as this cools, or isfor cause arrested, a similar process takes place at some other point.This movement bears a striking resemblance to the action of a body otskirmishers advancing under fire. Its progress is by fits and starts.

(f) Pua'a-kanu. In spite of the fact that this is claimed by Hawaiiansto be a place':name, I must see in it an allusion to a swine, devoted tosacrifice, connoting Lohiau himself.

(g) Oa, a poetical contraction for loa, long.

PELE AND HIL'\KA~A .MYTH

I pili aku ho'i maua 0 hae1e, (h)E pi'i i ka uka, e kui, e lei i ka lei,Ka lehua 0 ka ua nahuhu - (nahunahu)Nahu'a e ke ahi - uli ke a-Mahole ka papa, manihole i ka ai ia e ke Akua:Ai kolohe ka Wahine ia Puna,Ho'o-pohaku i ka Lae Ohi'a.Ka uahi 0 ka maIm ha'a-Iele'a i uka;Ka hala, ka lehua, lu ia i kai.Ha'aha'a Puna, ki'eki'e Kilauea:Ko Puna kuahiwi mau no ke ahi.o Puna, aina aloha!Aloha-ino Puna, e moe'a nei,Ka aina i ka ulu 0 ka makani !

199

The language of this mele is marked by a certain mannerismthat can hardly be described as either parallelism or as antithesis,though it approaches now one and now the other. It is as if eachpicture could not be accomplished save by representing its group­ing from more than one point of view.

TRANSLATION

Kilauea breaks forth: smoke blurs the day;A bitter rain blots out one half the Pit;Heeia is whelmed by a tidal wave; -Dread day of the fiery Goddess!The face of the cliff is splintered away;The lowlands are littered with fragmentsHer besom spares other land, not the park.The screw-palms are rent, the rock-plates shattered;The bowlders grind, the mamanes groan:I hear the pitiful sob of the trees.The tree-gods weep at their change into stone.Man, like the roof-pole, strangles in smoke;Puna chokes with the steam of the Woman;How groan the lehuas of Ka-li'u!A quivering flame enwraps Apua.Mine eyes are blinded at the sightOf the forest-circle of Ho'o-kll ;

(h) Haele. By a figure of speech-metonymy-the word haele, mean­ing to travel, is used to signify a fellow traveler, the companion, of course,is Hiiaka herself.

200 FELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

N ahunahu is swallowed up in the rack.Puna, how scarred! by the Goddess ravaged!Oluea's uplands quiver with heat-What ravage! its rocky strata uptorn;Deep-gullied the canyons, toothed are the cliffs;Like an oven glows the face of the rocks.Now Heaven hurls her forked boltsAnd bitter thunder-bombs; rocks burst and fly.A crash of splintered echoes breaks the night,Shatters the heavens and rends the earth.My towering cliff is shook like a reed;The trail adown the cliff is wreathed in steam;Mist veils the ragged spurs of lehua -A reign of terror! flames leap from the Pit;The storm-clouds spread their wings for rain;They rush in column over the plain.Tne mouth of the demon vomits flame­A besom-stroke to wooded Kai-mu.Destruction follows before and behind;What terror smites a-far and a-near!A brooding horror wraps my soulAs the fine rain covers the plain.A spectacle this for the eye of Day!An offering's laid - a pig? a man!Deem'st it a crime to snuggle close in travel?That we gathered flowers in the woods?That we strung them and plaited wreaths?That we hung them about our necks? -Red blossoms that sting us like fire -A fire that burns with a devilish flame,Till the blistered skin hangs in rags:And this - is the work of the God!The faithless Woman! Puna sacked!The Park of Lehua all turned to rock!The column of rock moves ever on;Lehuas and palms melt away,As the fire sweeps down to the sea.For Puna's below and Pele above,And Puna's mountain is ever aflame.Oh Puna, land close to my heart!Land ever fore-front to the storm!I weep for thy sorrowful plight!

PELE AND HIIAKA-A 1\1 YTH 201

"Cowed, and by a boy!" said Pele as her servants, with shamein their faces, slunk away from their unfinished task. "This isno job for women," she continued. "These girls can't stand upbefore a man - not if he has a smooth face and a shapely leg."

As she spoke the fire-lake in Hale-ma'u-ma'u took on a rud­dier hue, lifted in its cauldron and began to boil furiously, spout­ing up a score of red fountains.

"Men, gods, take these fires and pour them upon the man,"said Pele, addressing Lono-makua, Ku-pulupulu, Ku-moku-halii,Ku-ala-na-wao, Kupa-ai-ke'e, Ka-poha-kau, Ka-moho-alii, Kane­milo-hai and many others.

The gods well knew on what perilous ground they stood, withwhom they had to deal, the fierceness of Pele's wrath when itwas stirred; yet, in their hatred of a great wrong, they movedwith one purpose to push back the fires that were threateningLohiau. With their immortal hands they flung away the embersand masses of flame until the heavens were filled with meteor­fragments.

Pele's wrath rose to a mighty heat at this act of mutiny anddisloyalty and she cursed the whole assembly. "Go," said she,"back to Huli-nu'u whence you came. Let the land on whichyou stand remain barren and yield no harvest nor any food formortal or for immortal."

Now Pele was one of the chief gods on earth. The land washers. Did she not make it? Her authority extended also toheaven. Did not her flames mount to the zenith? All the gods,even the great gods Ku, Kane, Kanaloa and Lono, depended onher for certain things. When she voyaged from Kahiki to thenew land of Hawaii they were constrained to follow her. Notbecause of any command she laid upon them did they do this,but because such was their inclination. Where Pele was therewas food, wealth, the things they had need of. They followedas a clog tags after its master.

The threat made by Pele was, then, 110 idle breath. It was athing of terrible moment - to be stripped of their fat offices andbanished to a far-off barren land, a terrible sentence. Some ofthe gods gave in at once and made their peace with the terriblegoddess. Of those who stood firm in their opposition were Ku­moku-hali'i, Ku puIn-pulu, Ku-ala-na-wao, Kupa-ai-ke'e and Ku­mauna. (.r) Condemned to banishment, they were indeed in a

(x) See note at the end of the chapter.

202 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

sorry plight. They found themselves on the instant deprived oftheir jobs and of their power. Food they had not, n,or the meansof obtaining it; these were in the possession of Kane and Kana­loa. The ocean was not free to them; it was controlled by Ka­moho-alii. In their extremity they became vagabonds and tookto the art of canoe-making. Thus were they enabled to fly toother lands.

New dispositions having been made and fresh stratagems seton foot, Pele turned loose another deluge of fire, Lono-makuaconsenting to manage the operation. The fire burst into view atKeaau, from which place it backed up into the region of Ola'qand there divided into two streams, one of which continued on theHilo side, while the other followed a course farther towardsKau. Lohiau, thus surrounded, would find himself obliged toface Pele's wrath without the possibility of retreat.

Hiiaka, not fearing for herself but seeing the danger in whichher lover was placed, bade him pray; and this was the prayer heoffered:

Popo'i, haki kaiko'o ka lua;Haki ku, Haki kakala, ka ino,Popo'i aku i o'ii olehua,I Kani-a-hiku, (a) wahine (b) ai lehua,A ka unu (c) kupukupu, a eha ka pohakuI ka uwalu a ke ahi,I ke kaunu a ka Pu'u-Iena:( d)Huli ka moku, nakeke ka aina;

(a) Kani-a-hiku, a place-name-that of a village in the remote valleyof Wai-manu-here used, apparently, for its meaning. To analyze itsmeaning, Kani = a sound, a voice, probably a bird-song; Hiku, a celebratedkupua, the mother of the famous mythical hero M awi. It is said that whenthe wind, locally known as the Kapae, but more commonly named theHo'olua-the same as our trade-wind-blew gently from the ocean, thelistening ears of Kani-a-hiku heard, in the distance, the sound of huladrums and other rude instrument.s mingling with t.he voices of men chantingthe songs of the hula. This seems to be the kani referred to.

(b) Wahine ai lehua, Pele. Who else would it be?

(0) Vnu kupukupu (also written, it is said, haunu kupukupu), a hum­mock or natural rock-pile, such as would be selected by fishermen, witht.he addition, perhaps, of a few st.ones, as an altar on which to lay theiroffering and before which to utter their prayers. Kupukupu indicates theefficacy of such an altar as a luck-bringer.

(d) Pu'u-lena, a wind felt at Kilauea t.hat blew from Puna. The wordlena, yellow, suggests the sulphurous fumes that. must have added to it theirtaint at such time as t.he wind passed over the volcanic pit.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Kuhala-kai, (e) kuhuluku (f) ka mauna;Pehu ka leo i Pu'uku-akahi ;(g)Hano ka leo i PU'Uktl-alua;(h)Aheahe ana i Mauna Kua-Ioi(i) -I kauhale a ke Akua.I ke ahu a Ka-hoa-lii. (j)Kaha ka leo 0 ka ohi'a;Uwe ka leo 0 ke kai;Huli ke alo 0 Papa-Iau-ahi.Kai ho'onaue hala ko Keaau;Kai lu lehua ko Panaewa;Ke popo'i a'e la i ke ahu a Lono, e.E lono ana no anei? He ho'okuli;He kuli ia nei, he lono ole.

TRANSLATION

A storm and wild surf in the Pit,The fire-waves dashing and breaking;Spume splashes the buds of lehua­The bird-choir - 0 consumer of trees,O'erthrowing the fishermen's altar;The rocks melt away in thy flame;Fierce rages the Pu'u-Iena;The island quakes with thy tremor;A flood of rain on the lowland,A wintry chill on the highland.A boom, as of thunder, from this cliff;A faint distant moaning from that cliff;A whispered sigh from yonder hill,­Home of the gods, inviolate,

203

(e) Ku-hala-kai, a plentiful fall of rain.(f) Ku-hulu-ku, a chilling of the atmosphere.(g) Pu'uku-akahi, (h) Pu'uku-alua, names applied to hills on one or

the other side of the fire-pit, whence seem to come those sonorous puffingor blowing sounds that accompany the surging of the fires.

(i) Kua-loi. This is probably shortened from the full form Kua-loiloi,The reference is to a law, or custom, which forbade anyone to approachPele from behind, or to stand behind her. He kua loiloi ko Pele, the mean­ing of which is, Pele has a fastidious back.

(j) Ka-hoa-lii, literally. companion of kings; the shark-god, a relationof Pele, who occupied a section of the plateau on the northwestern side ofthe caldera, a place so sacred that the smoke and flames of the volcanowere not permitted to trespass there.

204 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Shrine of the God Hoalii.Now groans the soul of the tree a-flame;Now moans the heart of the restless sea.Uptorn are the ancient fire-plates.The Kea-au sea uproots the palms;Pana-ewa's sea scatters the bloom;It beats at the altar of Lono.Does she lend her heart to my cry?Deaf - her ears are deaf to my prayer.

Let us picture to ourselves the scene of the story that now hasthe stage - a waterless, wind-swept, plain of volcanic slag andsand, sparsely clad with a hardy growth whose foliage betraysthe influence of an environment that is at times almost Alpinein its austerity. Above the horizon-line swell the broad-basedshapes of Mauna-kea, Mauna-loa and Hualalai. In the immedi­ate foreground, overlooking the caldera - where are Pele'sheadquarters - we see two figures, standing, crouching, or re­clining, the lovers whose stolen bliss has furnished Pele with thepretext for her fiery discipline. Measured by the forces in op­position to them, their human forms shrink into insignificance.Measured by the boldness of their words and actions, one hasto admit the power of the human will to meet the hardest shocksof fortune. Listen to the swelling words of Lohiau as Pele'sencircling fires draw nearer:

Hulihia ka mauna, wela i ke ahi;WeIa nopu i ka uka 0 Kui-hana-Iei;Ke a pohaku; pu'u le1emaii uka 0 Ke-ka-ko'i­Ke-ka-ko'i ka ho'okela mai ka Lua.o ka maiau (a) pololei kani le'ale'a;o ka hinihini kani kua mauna;o ka mapu leo nui, kani k6hakoha;o kanaka loloa ( b) 0 ka mauna,o Ku-pulupulu i ka nahele;o na 'kua mai ka wao kele;

(a) Maiau pololei, land shells found on trees, generally called pupu­kanloi.

(b) Kanaka loloa, Ku-pulupulu, one of the gods of the canoe-makers;here spoken of as a tall man in contradistinction, perhaps, to the dwarfishKini-akua, who were his followers.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A 1VI YTH

a Kuli-pe'e-nui(c) ai-ahua;a Kike alawa 0 Pi'i-kea ;(d)a ka uahi Pohina i uka;a ka uahi mapu-kea i kai;a ka uahi noe lehua, e;a ke awa nui, i ka mauna;a ke po'0 0 ke ahi, i ka nahele ;a ka ai'na a Pele rna, i uka;Va ku ke oka, aia i kai.Pau a'e la ka maha laau-Ka maha ohi'a loloa 0 Kali'u,A ka luna i Pohaku-o-kapu.Kapu mai la Puna, ua kulepe i ke ahi ;Va puni haiki Kilauea.Va ha ka lama i ka luna i Moku-aweoweo;Va ha ka uka i Ke-ahi-a-Laka;Ai'na a'e la 0 Moe-awakea i Ku-ka-Ia-ula,A ka luna, i Pohaku-holo-na'e.Ku au, kilohi, nana ilaila e maliu mai:a ku'u ike wale aku ia Maukele,I ka papa lohi 0 Apua-He la lili'u, e nopu, e wela ka wawae.Pau ke a, kahuli ha'a ka pahoehoe,A pau na niu 0 kula i Kapoho.Holo ke ahi mahao'o(x) 0 Kua-uli;Pau ama'o-lala i ke ahi:I hi'a no a a pulupulu i ka lau laau.Kuni'a ka lani, haule ka ua loku ;Ka'a mai ka pouli, wili ka puahiohio;Ka ua koko, ke owe la i ka lani.Eia Pele mai ka Mauna, mai ka luna i Kilauea.Mai a'oluea, mai Papa-Iau-ahi a hiki Malama.Mahina ka uka 0 Ka-li'u;Enaena Puna i ka ai'na e ke 'Kua wahine.

205

(c) K1lli-pe'e-nui, a deity, or an idealization, of a lava flow. The featurethat seems to be emphasized is the stumbling, crawling, motion, which asseen in a flow, may be compared to the awkward ataxic, movement of onewhose knees are dislocated and leg-bones broken.

(d) Pt'i-kea, the god of the roaches, who is described as given to makingcertain tapping motions with his head which, I believe, are practiced by theroach at the present time.

(x) lIfahao'o, an epithet applied to a dog that shows a patch of yellowhairs on each side of his face. It has somewhat the force of our expression.breathing out flames.

206 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Kahuli Kilauea me he ama(e) wa'a la;Pouli, kikaha ke Akua 0 ka Po;Liolio i Wawau ke Akua 0 ka uka;Niho'a ka pali, kala-Iua i uka;Koea a mania, kikaha koa'e ;Le1e pauma ka hulu maewaewa.A'ea'e na akua i ka uka;Noho Pele i ke ahiii;Kani-ke ilalo 0 ka Lua.Kahuli Kilauea, lana me he wa'a(f) la;Kuni'a a'e la Puna, mo'a wela ke one­Mo'a wela paha Puna, e!Wela i ke ahi au, a ka Wahine.

TRANSLATION

The Mount is convulsed; the surging fireSweeps o'er the height of Kui-hana-Iei;The rocks ablaze; the hillocks explodeFar out by Ax-quarry, aye, and beyond,Where gleefully chirped the pololei,And the grasshopper trilled on the mountainA resonant intermittent cry.N ow comes the tall man of the mount,Ku-pulupulu, the Lord of the Woods.In his train swarm the pigmy gods of the wilds,The knock-kneed monster Kuli-pe'e-That subterraneous eater of towns -And watchful Pi'i-kea, the Roach god.A blinding smoke blurs the hinter-land;A milk-white cloud obscures the lowland,Enshrouding the groves of lehua.The smoke-rack bulks huge in the upland;­The fire has its head in the Mount,And thence the Pele gang start on a raid.The ash of their ravage reaches the sea:

(e) Ama wa'a. The commotion in Kilauea is here compared to the up­setting of the canoe's outrigger (ama). When an outriggered canoe cap­sizes the outrigger, ama, as a rule, lifts out of the water.

(f) Wa'a. The reference seems to be to the masses of solid lava that,not infrequently may be seen to break ott from the wall of the fire-pit andfloat away on thf! surface of the molten lake, even as an iceberg floats inthe ocean.

PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH 207

She's made a fell sweep of forest and groveClean down to Pohaku-o-kapu.Now, tabu is Puna, forbidden to man:The fire-tongues dart and hedge it about.A torch buds out from Moku-aweo.To answer the beacon flung by Laka.Now she's eaten her way from sleepy noonTill when the windy mountain ridgeBuds with the rosy petals of dawn.Here stand I to wait her relenting:I see naught but desolate PunaAnd the quivering plain of Apua:All about is flame - the rock-plain rent;The coco-palms that tufted the plainAre gone, all gone, clean down to Ka-poho.On rushes the dragon with flaming mouth,Eating its way to Oma'o-lala.For tinder it has the hair of the fern.A ghastly rain blots out the sky;The sooty birds of storm whirl through the vault;Heaven groans, adrip, as with dragon-blood.Here Pele comes from her fortress, her Mount,Deserting her resting place, her hearth -A wild raid down to Malama.Kali'u's highlands shine like the moon;All Puna glows at the Goddess' coming.The crater's upset; the ama flies up;The God of night plods about in the dark;The Upland God makes a dash for Vavau.The pali are notched like teeth, dissevered,Their front clean shaven, where sailed the bosen,­White breast of down - on outstretched wings.The gods ascend to the highlands;The goddess Pe1e tears in a frenzy;She raves and beats about in the Pit:Its crumbled walls float like boats in the gulf:An ash-heap is Puna, melted its sand-'Crisp-done by thy fire, Thine, 0 Woman!

When Hiiaka recognized the desperate strait of her friendand lover she urged him to betake himself again to prayer.

208 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

"Prayer may serve in time of health; it's of no avail in theday of death," was his answer.

It was not now a band of women with firebrands, but a phalanxof fire that closed in upon Lohiau. The whole land seemed tohim to be a-flame. The pictures that flit through his disturbedmind are hinted at in the song he utters. The pangs of disso­lution seem to have stirred his deeper nature and to have givenhim a thoughtfulness and power of expression that were lackingin the heyday of his lifetime. Hiiaka called on him for prayerand this was his· response:

Pau Puna, ua koele ka papa;Va noe ke kuahiwi, ka mauna 0 ka Lua;Va awa mai ka luna 0 Vwe-kahuna­Ka ohu kolo mai i uka,Ka ohu kolo mai i kai.Ke aa la Puna i ka uka 0 Na'ena'e ;(a)o ka lama kau oni'oni'o, (b)o na wahine i ke anaina,I ka piha a ka naoa ( c) 0 mua nei.Oia ho'i ke kukulu( d) a mua;Oia ho'i ke kukulu awa;o kai awa i ka haki pali,o kai a Pele i popo'i i Kahiki ­Popo'i i ke alo 0 Kilauea;o kai a Ka-hulu-manu :(e)Opiopi (f) kai a ka Makali'i;Ku'uku'u kai a ka pohaku,

(a) Na'ena'e, said of an object that looks small from a distance. Theuse of the particle emphatic 0, placed before this word, implies that it per­forms the office of a proper name, here a place-name. Such a use of theparticle emphatic before a noun not a proper name indicates that the wordis used as an abstract term.

(b) Lama kau oni'oni'o. When two strings of kukui nuts are bound to­gether to form one torch, the light given by it is said to be of varying colors.The word oni'oni'o alludes to this fact.

(cl) Kukuln a awa, said of those in the rear of the company that cameagainst Lohiau. I cannot learn that this is a military term.

(e) Kai-a-ka-hulu-manu, literally, the sea of the bird feathers. Someclaim this as being the same as the Kai-a-ka-hinali'i; others, and I thinkrightly, claim that it was a distinct flood that occurred at a later periodand that destroyed all birds and flying things.

(f) Opiopi. The waves of the sea in the season of Makali'i are com­pared to the wrinkles in a mat, the contrast with those of the Kai-a-ka­hulu-manu, and the kai a ka pohaku.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

Ke ahi a ka Doho (g) uka,Kukuni i ke kua(k) 0 ka makani.WeIa ka ulu(i) 0 ka La i Puna, e;Kina Puna i ka ai'na e ke Akua, e.He akua(j) ke hoa, e;Ke kuhi la iaia he kanaka­He akua ke hoa, e!

TRANSLATION

Puna is ravaged, its levels fire-baked;Fog blots out the forest-heights of the Pit;Uwe-kahuna's plain is bitter cold-A mist that creeps up from the sea,A mist that creeps down from the mount;Puna's dim distant hills are burning-A glancing of torches - rainbow colors­The whole assembly of women.In pity and love they stand before us ;They forin the first line of battleAnd they make up the second line.The raging waves engulf the steep coast­The sea Pele turmoiled at Kahiki,That surged at the base of Kilauea-The bird-killing flood Ka-hulu-manu.Makali'i's waves were like folds in a mat;A smiting of rock against rockIs the awful surge of the Pele folk.The wind-blast enflames their dry tinder.The face of the Sun is hot in Puna.I companioned, it seems, with a god;I had thought her to be very woman.Lo and behold, she's a devil!

209

(g) Noho, a seat. or to sit. Here used for the people there living.(h) Kua 0 ka makani (literally, at the back of the wind). Koolau, the

windward side of an island, was its kua, back. The whole line contains aningenious reference to the manner of fire-lighting. When the smoulderingspark from the fire-sticks has been received on a bunch of dry grass, it iswaved to and fro to make it ignite. To the old-fashioned Hawaiian familiarwith this manner of fire-making this figure is full of meaning.

(i) Ulu 0 ka La, the figure of the Sun as it touched the horizon, or itsglare.

(j) Akua, literally. a god. This is a generic term and includes beingsthat we would call heroes, as well as devils and demons.

Apropos of the meaning of na'ena'e I will quote the words ofa Hawaiian song by way of illustration:

Makalii lua ka La ia Ka-wai-hoa,(a)Anoano i ka luna 0 Hoaka-Iei: (b)Lei manu 'i ka hana a ke kiii; (c)Luli ke PO'01 eha i ka La 0 Maka-lii,Hoiloli lua i na ulu hua i ka hapapa.

210 PELE AND HUAKA-A MYTH

TRANSLATION

Wondrous small looks the Sun o'er Waihoa,How lonesome above Hoaka-Iei!Birds crown the hill to escape from the Kiii;Men turn the head from the Sun's winter heatAnd scorn the loaves of the bread-fruit tree.

In answer to these words of Lohiau Pele muttered gruffly,"God! Did you take me to be a human being? That's what isthe matter with you, and your clatter is merely a wail at theprospect of death."

Under the torture of the encircling fires Lohiau again babblesforth an utterance in which the hallucinations of delirium seemto be floating before him:

Wela ka hoku, ka Malama;Ua wela Makali'i, Kaelo ia Ka-ulua ;(d)Kai ehu ka moku, papapa ka aina;Ha'aha'a(e) ka lani; kaiko'o ka Mauna,Ha ka moana ; popo'i Kilauea.Ale noho ana Papa-Iau-ahi;o mai Pele i ona kino-Hekikili ka ua mai ka lani;Nei ke ola'i; ha ka pohakahi a ka Ikuwa;

(a) Ka-wai-hoa, the southern point of Niihau.(b) Hoaka-lei, a hill on Niihau.(c) Kiu, the name of a wind.

(d) Makalii, Kaelo and Ka-ulua are cold months. Lohiau found themhot enough.

(e) Ha'aha'a, literally, hanging low. I am reminded of an old songuttered, it is said, by a hero from the top of Kauwiki hill, in Hana, Maui;"Aina ua, lani ha'aha'a." Land of rain, where the heavens hang (ever)low.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH 211

Ku mai Puna ki'eki'e;Ha'aha'a ka ulu a ka opua,Pua ehu mai la uka 0 Ke-ahi-a-Laka;Pau mahana i kahi Wai-welawela(c) 0 ka Lua, e;Iki'ki i ka uwahi lehua;Paku'i ka uwahi Kanaka.Pua'i hanu, ea ole i ke po'i a ke ahi.E Hiiaka e, i wai maka e uwe mai!

TRANSLATION

The stars are on fire, and the moon;Cold winter is turned to hot summer;The island is girdled with storm;The land is scoured and swept barren;The heavens sag low - high surf in the Pit­There's toss of a stormy ocean,Wild surging in Kilauea;Fire-billows cover the rocky plain,For Pele erupts her very self.A flood of rain follows lightning-bolt;Earth quakes with groaning and tossing,Answered with shouts from the Echo god.Once Puna was lifted to heaven;Now the cloud of dark omen hangs low.White bellies the cloud over Laka's hearth;Wai-wela-wela supplies a warm skirt.I choke in this smoke of lehua-How pungent the smell of burnt man!I strangle, my breath is cqt off-Ugh! what a stifling blanket of fire!Your tears, Hiiaka, your tears!

---------_.-------------_._--_._---------------(0) Wai-wela-wela, a hot lake in lower Puna.

(x) Note on Ku-mauna. See page 201.

(d) Ku-mauna, a rain-god of great local fame and power; now repre­sented by a monolithic bowlder about thirty feet high. partly overgrown withferns and moss, situated in the lower edge of the forest-belt, that lies tothe south and Kau of Mauna-loa. deserves more than passing mention. Theregion in which this rock is situated is declared by vulcanologists to havebeen one vast caldera and must have been the scene of tremendous dis­turbances.

Up to the present time the Hawaiians have continued to hold Ku-maunaIn great reverence mingled with fear. The following modern instance is

212 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

not only a true story, and interesting, but also furnishes an illustrationof the attitude of mind of the Hawaiian people generallY,-or many ofthem-towards their old gods.

During a period of severe drought in the district of Kau, Hawaii, a gentle­man named S , while hunting in the neighborhood of the rock thatbears the name Ku-mauna, took occasion to go out of his way and visitthe rock. Standing before the rocky mass and calling it by name, he usedtowards it insulting and taunting epithets, professing to hold it responsiblefor the drought that was distressing the land. He concluded his tiradeby discharging his rifle point blank against the face of the rock, resulting inthe detachment of a considerable fragment.

The vaqueros in the employ of Mr. S. , who were assisting in thehunt, horrifled at the sacreligious act, at once put spurs to their horses andmade off, predicting the direst consequences from the rash act of Mr.S---,

Now for the denouement: Within about ten days of this occurrence,the valley, on one side of which Mr. S had his residence, was visitedby a violent rain-storm-such as would in popular speech be termed a cloud­burst. There was a mighty freshet, the waters of which reached so highas to flood his garden and threaten the safety of his house, which he savedonly by the most strenuous exertions. The land which had been his gardenwas almost entirely washed away and in its place was deposited a pell-mellof stones.

Needless to say, that, by the natives, this incident was and is regardedto this day as conclusive evidence of the divine power of Ku-mauna and ofhis wrath at the audacious person who insulted him. Special significanceis attached to the fact that as part of Ku-mauna's reprisal the place thathad been a garden was turned into a field of rocks. The only wonder isthat Mr. S got off with so light a punishment.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE DEATH OF LOHIAU

Lohiau, in his last agony, wandered in mind and babbled ofmany things. To his credit, be it said that his thoughts werenot wholly centered on himself. There was a margin of regardfor others, as when he sang in these words:

Aloha na hale 0 makou i makamaka ole,Ke ala hele mauka 0 Huli-wale la, e.Huli wale; ke huli wale a'e nei no,I ka makana ole, i ka mohai ole e ike aku ai,E kanaenae aku ai la ho'i, ia oe, ia oe!

TRANSLATION

My love to the homes made desolate,

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

On the road which makes this turning.I turn away with an empty hand,Lacking an offering fit to make peace,To soften thy heart and appease thee ­To soften thy heart and content thee.

213

At the last flicker of life, when the rocky encasement had wellnigh completed the envelopment of his body, Hiiaka, daring thebarrier of fire that had come between them, sprang to his sideand, with the last kiss! whispered into his ear, "Go not on theside whence the wind blows; pass to leeward, on the day of ourmeeting." (Mai hele i ka makani; hele i ka pohu, ma ka la akaua e halawai ai.) By this cryptic expression, Hiiaka meant toput Lohiau on his guard against enemies that lay in wait forhim. If he went to the windward he might reveal himself tothem by his flair. She also embodied her warning in song:

Aloha ko'u hoa i ka ua pua-kukui,Kui lehua 0 Moe-awakea,Lei pua 0 Ka-Ia-hui-pua,Kae'e lehua 0 Pu'u-Iena, la, mauka:Mauka oe e hele ai,Ma ka ulu 0 ka makani;o moe'a oe e ka a Pu'u-Iena la­Make, make loa 0 oe !

TRANSLATION

My love to thee, mate of the sifting rain,Such time as we strung the lehua,In the snatches of noonday rest,On the days when we dreamed of reunion;And this was done in the uplands.In the uplands you shall safely journey;Safe in the hush and lee of the wind;Lest the blasts of Pu'u-Iena shall smiteAnd sweep you away to an endless doom.

A swarm of emotions buzzed in the chambers of Hiiaka'smind, of love, of self-destruction, of revenge. In an agony ofindecision she strode this way and that, wringing her hands andwailing in a strictly human fashion. The master passion came

214 PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

I'II

to the front and had sway: she would find Lohiau, and with himrenew the bond of friendliness which had grown up in the midstof the innocent joys and toils of travel shared by them in com­mon. An access of divine power came to her. She immediatelybegan to tear up the strata of the earth. As she broke throughthe first stratum and the second, she saw nothing. She tore herway with renewed energy: rock smote against rock and the airwas full. of flying debris.

After passing the third stratum, she came upon a ghastlysight- the god of suicide, suspended by the neck, his tongueprotruding from his mouth. It was a solemn lesson. Afterpassing the fourth stratum she came upon the stratum of Wakea,and here she found the inanimate bodies of her former com­panions of travel, the faithful Wahine-oma'o and Pau-o-pala'e.She restored them to life and animation, bidding them returnto the beautiful world of sunshineaIld fresh air.

She came at last to, the tenth, stratum with full purpose tobreak up this also and thus open the flood-gates of the great deepand submerge Pele and her whole domain in a flood of waters.That, indeed, would have been the ruin of all things. At thismoment there came to Hiaaka the·' c1earpenetrating tone of afamiliar voice. It was the voice 'of her fast friend and travelingcompanion, Wahine-oma'?, who had ··but recently left her andwho, now, under the inspiration of the great god Kane, had cometo dissuade Hiiaka from her purpose. For the execution of thatpurpose meant a universe in confusion. It was time, then, .forKane to interfere. He did this by putting into the mouth ofof her dearest friend on earth an appeal to which Hiiaka couldnot but listen and•. listening, ,. heed:

A po Kaena i 1m ehu 0 ke kai;Ki-pu iho ·la i .ka Iau 0 ke ahi;Pala e'ehu i ka La ka ulu oPoloa, e!Po wale, ho'i; e ho'o-po mai ana ka oe ia'u,I ka hoa 0 ka ua, 0 ke anu, 0 ke ko'eko'e!Auhea anei oe? Ho'i mai kaua;He au Ko'olau(a) aku ia.

(a) Ko'olau, a term applied generally to the windward side of an island,which was, of course, the stormy side. The expression au Ko'olau, orKo'olau weather, is one of great significance.

PELE AND HIIAKA-A MYTH

TRANSLATION

215

Kaena is darkened with sea-mist;Eruptions burst up mid lakes of flame;Scorched and gray are Po-loa's bread-fruits.Now, as a climax, down shuts the night.You purpose to blind with darknessThe woman who went as your fellowThrough rain and storm and piercing cold.List now, my friend: return with me­We've had a spell of nasty weather!

For Hiiaka to give ear to the pleading voice of her friend, thewoman who had shared with her the shock of battle and thehardships of travel from Hawaii to Kaua'i and back again, wasto run the risk of being persuaded.

"Come with me," said Wahine-oma'o; "let us return to ourmistress."

"I must first seek and find Lohiau," answered Hiiaka."Better for us first to go before Pele. She will send and bring

Lohiau." Thus pleaded the woman Wahine-oma'o.Hiiaka turned from the work of destruction and, hand in

hand, they made their way back into the light and wholesomeair of the upper world.

The sisters - those who bore the name Hiiaka - received hercordially enough. They prattled of many things; buzzed herwith questions about her travels of long ago - as it now seemedto Hiiaka. It was not in their heart to stir the embers of painfulissues. No more was it in their heart to fathom the little Hiiakaof yesterday, the full-statu red woman of to-day. Beyond theexchange of becoming salutations, Hiiaka's mouth was sealed.Until Pele should see fit to lend ear and heart to her speech nota word would she utter regarding her journey.

But Pele lay on her hearth silent, sullen - no gesture, no lookof recognition.

The kino wailua, or spirit from Lohiau, in the meantime, afterhaving in vain tried to solace itself with the companionship ofthe forest song-birds and having found that resource empty ofhuman comfort, fluttered across the desolate waste of ocean likea tired sea-b!rd back to his old home and there appeared to hisaikane Paoa in a vision at night.

"Come and fetch me," he said (meaning, of course. his body)."You will find me lying asleep at Kilauea."

216 PELE AND HIIAKA-A :N[YTH

Paoa started up in a fright. "What does this mean?" he saidto himself. "That Lohiau is in trouble?"

When he had· lain down again the samc~ vision repeated itself.This time the command was imperative: "Come and rescue me;here I am in the land of non-recognition." (a)

Now Paoa roused himself, assured that Lohiau's sleep wasthat of death, but not knowing that he was, for the second time,the victim of Pele's wrath. He said nothing to anyone but madeall his preparations for departure in secret, reasoning that Ka­hua-nui, the sister of Lohiau, would not credit his story andwould consequently interfere with his plans.

He entered his canoe and, pressing the. water with his paddle,his craft made a wonderful run towards Hawaii. It was neces­sary for him only to dip his paddle in thc~ brine at intervals andto direct the course. The canoe seemed a.lmost to move of itselfThat same morning he arrived at Waipio,. To his 3.$tonishment,there, in a boat-shed on the beach lay the canoe which he recog­nized as that of. his friend Lohiau. The:: people of the districthad been wondering whose it· was and how it had come there.

Paoa found many things that. were new and strange to him inthis big raw island of Hawaii. Not the least of these was theland on which he trod, in places a rocky shell covering the earthlike the plates. on the back of the turtle, or, it might be, a.tumbleof jagged rocks - the so-called .a3o- a terrain quite new to hisexperience. It seemed as if the world-maker had not completedhis work.

Of the route to Kilauea he was quite ignorant, but he was .led.There flitted before him a shadow, a wraith, a s.hape and he fol­lowed it. At times he thought he could·· recognize the form ofLohiau and, at night or in the deep shadows of the forest, heseemed to be looking into the face of his friend.

When night came he lay down in a sheltered place and slept.In the early morning, while darkness yet brooded over the land,he was roused by the appearance of a light. His. first thoughtwas that day had stolen upon him; but no, it was the kino wailuaof his friend that had come to awaken him and lead him on thelast stage of his journey.

(a) E ki'i mai oe ia'u; eia au la i ke au a ka hewahewfl.